We remember...

God Bless America

You are the greatest land in the world

and we are all proud Americans in this house!!

Here I am again for "what I wore wednesday"....then off to Jury Duty!

(Not sure I liked this after I saw the picture)

Lace top - Styles for Less

white tank - Nordstrom

Cut off old Levis

Thrifted shoes

and jewelry by me

T shirt - Dear Diary

jean shorts - TJMaxx

gold skinny belt - jcrew

sandals - Nordstrom

jewelry by me

Black dress - Walmart

sandals - Old Navy

(lighting much better in my cottage)

and lastly, but most comfy,

to coffee on Labor day Monday

Hello Kitty - Forever 21 45, gift from sweet man

v neck t - American apparel 

boyfriend jeans - Old Navy

Ugg boots - another gift from sweet man

and fabulous bag - handmade by a dear friend!
Mess all around me - by the family

This is all I have this week. Hope you all join in with The Pleated Poppy and Simply me Art

for some
WIWW fun!!!!

Yum, Yum

Love me some Shepard's Pie

and so I tried...to make it...and it was easy and yummy!

All you need to do is make some of these babies, mmmmm

love me some mash potatoes!

then cut up whatever veggies you prefer, (I used what I had on hand)

which I cooked in a little bit of olive oil and steamed with the lid on until tender, (Next time I will definitely add several different kinds of veggies).

then added them to my browned ground beef that I

cooked with onions and seasoned with salt and pepper

then added a can of this....simple right! I also added a can of tomato sauce, because my kids would pick out each tomato if I used fresh, and that would drive me crazy. Funny, they will eat steamed mussels, clams, even brussel sprouts, but give them a tomato and they will look at me like I have ten heads! Mom, you know we don't like tomatoes, but sure pass me the pizza with tomato base sauce...ok, Jules, carry on...

Then all you do is put your meat and veggie mixture on the bottom of a casserole dish, your mashed potatoes on top of that, sprinkle with some shredded cheese, cover, bake at 350 for 45 minutes and you end up with this

Yummy and enough for leftovers.

Does anyone have another way of making this?

Beginners Shepard's Pie

Mashed Potatoes

ground beef (turkey)

sweet onion

fresh veggies

tomato - unless your inviting my kids, then tomato sauce

can of mushroom soup

shredded cheddar

make your mash potatoes

chop your onions and cook till soft in a bit of olive oil

add your ground beef (turkey) season with salt and pepper

once cooked, add your can of soup and tomato (sauce if you must)

place meat mixture in the bottom of casserole dish

top with potatoes and sprinkle with cheese

cover and bake @350 for 45 mins.

Enjoy!!!

my very first "What I wore Wednesday"

I may be a bit too old to join in but here I am, jumping right in to join

The Pleated Poppy !

Outfit #1

Heritage 1981 sweater

Seven jeans from Loehmann's ($30.00!!)

Metallic Sperry Boat Shoes  - Nordies

jewelry by jules white (me)

sorry about the horrible pic...need to work on this!

#2
sweater forever 21
scarf is from Styles 4 Less
jeans - same seven jeans
shoes are Fyre slingbacks
both bracelets are cuffs - by jules white (me)

#3

dress from Walmart

same seven jeans (sheesh)

clogs (because I live near Solvang)

and again all jewelry by me

 

#4

Top from Style 4 Less

Jeans from a local boutique (Heaven Scent)

Shoes thrifted

jewelry by me

Other than these four outfits, I was either in workout clothes (because I had every intention), or jammies and that is not blog worthy....what did you wear this week!

a little addition

This was one of our summer projects...a very simple & tiny pool bath.

I am so happy with the way it turned out. For the most part, this was a very cost effective project, (I can hear my husband laughing right now, ok, other than the usual and always expensive lumber, roofing, plumbing, electrician cost and contractors labor), (notice I didn't add window, 'cus that is what my husband, we do for a living),...and like always, most of what we used was vintage, from the hardware store or something repurposed. 

One of my favorite parts of our pool bath is the sink. It was a piece I bought from heather bullard at a barn sale in Nipomo (The sale is called Remnants of the Past which is hosted by an amazingly talented lady named Judy! It is very special, and I would highly recommend going!)

The trash can is a painted basket that I thrifted, the bench I bought at a garage sale for $2.00, the mirror was $15.00 at a junk shop, the faucet is a hose bib, (since it is a pool bath there is only cold water)...soap on a rope from etsy, the brackets for shelf and towel rod and hook, all hardware store....super inexpensive! 

We just left the concrete floors exposed.

Oh, and the wood used for door and shelf are our business partners old fence wood! So glad he wanted a new fence...I have gotten tons of mileage out of his old fence wood!

 The little latch hook is from the hardware store, door brackets too, as is the toilet paper holder. The door handle is a tiny green glass cabinet knob that we had left over. The hook on the back of the door is from a cute little local store called Picket Fences in Solvang.




The light fixture is from Ikea. Between the electrical part and the paper lantern it cost around $10.00 I believe. Love it. I can also change out the paper lantern part any time I want! Then there is the old military locker from the Rose Bowl, we paid about $100.00 for that. It fit perfectly next to the toilet and now holds stuff like extra toilet paper, sunscreen, ping pong paddles and balls, water balloons perfectly! The only thing I have left, is to make a cute little window treatment!

New jewerly

 Can't wait to make more of these!

  summer has definitely kept me busy, but not real productive. Sadly, I have barely used my cottage (studio) at all. 
                              
As of tomorrow, both boys will be back to school, and I am hoping that means more creative time in the cottage. Certainly, it means fewer distractions....altho, there is laundry, cleaning, cooking, and maybe working out????

did it make any difference?

with all the work that was put into sanding and painting, not to mention the money I spent on supplies, did it improve this piece at all?

I was tired of the light green, faux distressed look...not that I don't like that, because I do...it's just that I have had this piece for 15 years and I was trying to breath new life into it...

but the funny thing is...I don't know that there is a huge difference in the before and after. Can you tell?

The leopard chaise....

made it out of storage!!!! I finally made room for her!Don't know why it took me so long...this is my favorite Thrift store find...of course she didn't look like this when we got her. She was all tattered and torn...it was about 10 years ago that I first laid eyes on her. She was featured in the thrift store window. Went in to buy her, only they said she was a "real" french chaise that a dealer told them should sell for nothing less then $*%@x#! Ouch! I left with my dreams squashed! Told my husband about it when I got home, and three days later....it was my valentines present! He surprised me with her! Covered her in leopard and have loved her ever since....
only, when we moved into this house, I could not find a place for her...she had always been in our bedroom, but I had this new "old" french couch I really wanted to use, so she kind of got replaced with a couch!!
I think she found her new spot now...she is in our tiny sitting room...I like it even better than having her in the bedroom, 'cus now I see her all day long!

When in wine country....

We live in the beautiful Santa Ynez Valley, also known as wine country! Last Friday night, Lar and I stayed the night at the Melville winery. It was a short 20 min drive from our home. Perfect overnight get away!!!

Love the entrance.....

the views were amazing....

grapes were getting ready for this....

mmmmm....wine

how adorable is he???? love this man!!!!

and since it was only a 10 min drive from my parents house, they joined us for some wine, cheese and yummy desert!

it was so strange to have access to the entire winery with no one there

I keep telling Lar that I could own a winery, I felt very comfortable there

the entire place was gorgeous and ours for the night

felt like a million bucks in the morning.....what a great kick off for Father's day weekend!!!!

Hope your mothers day was wonderful!!!!

Mine was great!!!! Lar and the boys took me to the Rose Bowl!!!! My favorite thing to do....hunt for treasures...Jackson and I standing by the front entrance...missing Graydon who had to run back to get his money from the motor home (the only way to travel the three hour drive)! Love that my boys actually enjoy looking for cool old stuff. Graydon started to price "lawn nobes" in honor of our new landscaping that goes in on the 20th!!!!! He is rethinking this after he priced his first one and the woman told him $225.00, the look on his face was priceless!!! He says one day he will find one he can afford!!!!! Love that!!!!!
After the Rose Bowl we had a great Italian lunch in Old Town Pasedena. In honor of my cupcake sweet tooth....my sweet "lawn nobe" searching Graydon gave me a gift of 16 different types....I ate six yesterday....yes, I have promised myself that today will be the day to start running again...so far the running clothes are on....and I have only had two cupcakes....
this is from my Jackson....love the artwork...I will keep this forever!!!!!!!!
The coupon with the scissor...classic!!!! I think he is going to do whatever I want him to do for an entire month? Love it!!!!
Then there is the beautiful orchid my mother gave me for mothers day on Saturday. She drove over (30 min drive) to come to Jackson's baseball game and a visit. She made sure to deliver the orchid before the game so that it didn't wilt in the car. She watered it and had it waiting for me on my counter with a lovely note. So sweet...only she didn't need to water it....it is an artificial orchid....we laughed hysterically. She still doesn't believe it isn't real....